Eliminate Shortages And Minimize Inventory With Supply Chain Management

The main purpose of a supply chain is to get goods – whether raw materials, parts or end products – to where they are needed, when they are needed. The challenge is to do that in the most efficient (cost effective) way.

This is the primary challenge of supply chain management – eliminating or minimizing shortages while at the same time carrying as little inventory as possible. This is easier said than done, of course, because fluctuations can be hard to predict – and carrying extra inventory is counter to the efficiency that the supply chain is trying to achieve.

There are a couple of factors that can be manipulated to improve supply chain efficiency. One is reducing variability. Variability of demand is difficult to address – customers buy what they want, when they want it – but collaboration can help reduce the uncertainty and sometimes provide some advanced warning that things are about to change. Having access to point-of-sale information also helps up-stream suppliers, including warehouses and distribution centers, and see demand more clearly and earlier.

To rear more, visit the monthly news blog at Advanced Supply Chain Software.


The 2013 Brown Smith Wallace Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. The 2014 edition will be available in February, 2014. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information.

2013 Distribution Software

2013 Manufacturing Software

You can also request these guides, as well as all other materials, via our website: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 

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